Tata Prima T1 Season 2
Burning rubber, bumper to bumper driving, overloaded and highly decorated are some of the terms that best describe truck driving in India. Trucks have a major role to play in the country’s economy, though they are meant to transport things from one place to another. These are the main jobs the diesel guzzlers can do, right? May be, but Tata Motors is changing it. Seems like their trucks have ‘transformed’ and with BIC as the venue it has turned into a battle of Primes!
Welcome to the world of Truck Racing. Since its inception in 1979 in the United States, the sport has been thrilling a wide range of audience world-wide with its adrenaline punching, competitive races and of course, the high voltage drama and action. United States and few European countries have a great fan following for this sport, as they enjoy high-powered trucks and dedicated tracks. Our country was introduced to this sport only a year ago and the response was so good that it prompted Tata Motors to go ahead with Season 2 at the world class, Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida.
Just like the last season, the second season had six teams, who owned two trucks each: Team Castrol Vecton, Team Cummins, Team Tata Technologies Motorsports, Team Allied Partners, Team Dealer Warriors and Team Dealer Daredevils. But in order to make things more exciting, the Tata Prima trucks went through a slight performance make over. There is a 20 per cent increase in overall speed (135kmph), 10 per cent increase in acceleration and weight reduction and lastly, a new aerodynamic design. But who will drive them? Well, we would have loved to see the actual truck drivers from India at the steering wheel (the way they tackle the bad roads and traffic in India, rest assured they are no less than racers) but in order to keep things exciting and competitive and probably a little safer, Tata Motors got champions from the British Truck Championship to participate. It was their duty to take this 370bhp behemoth and make their way to the finish line, first. But yes, they had 48 hours to showcase some incredible action.
Day 1
This is where the drivers were let loose. I reached the Buddh International Circuit as per schedule, and I could already see some drivers spending time inside the truck cabin, putting the pedal to the metal, taking on each corner on that dry tarmac without any fear. Day 1 was declared a free practice session and then there would be the two qualifiers. And yes, the media was let loose too, so I began my day by visiting each and every team’s pit. While the excitement was seen on each team member’s face, what made my day was the presence of women in the support team. They were majorly responsible for filling out the pressurised water tanks, which was used to cool down the brakes.
All the 12 racing trucks were identical, well almost. They were powered by a Cummins 8.9-litre diesel engine that produced 370bhp and humongous 1550Nm of torque. Only differences were the various liveries that were used on the Prima and men behind the wheels. But the colourful liveries with the sponsor names did make the Prima look quite stunning (my favourite was the Team Tata Technologies).
The two free practice sessions saw all the drivers go berserk. While most of the drivers have driven in the last season, there were few new drivers, who had to get accustomed to the updated Prima truck and track layout of BIC. So this is the only time where they could try new things, but still manage to take part in the final race. The timings of each of the laps were noted, but the drivers were busy experimenting with the truck, especially before entering a corner. The free practice session was followed by a 20- minute qualifying session. The things became aggressive and more interesting. Not many spectators were present on the grand stand to cheer for them, but the present media folks made sure each one of them got their share of encouragement. 12 trucks racing towards the finishing line is an amazing sight to see. Even if you could pay a hefty amount, you really won’t see anything like this on Indian shores. After two intensifying qualifiers, Steve Thomas grabbed the pole position from the Team Allied Partners.
The second position was taken by Steve Oliver, the defending champion from Team Castrol, who missed the pole by a few tenths of a second. Steve Thomas finished in 1:50:995 whereas Steve Oliver recorded a very close 1:51:058. The third position also went to Team Castrol, driven by Oliver Janes. Overall, day 1 was quite exciting for someone who was attending it for the first time. Honestly, I was quite excited and I had one question in mind, will anyone hit the cement block at the BIC? My question was answered on Day 2.
Day 2
When I entered the BIC, the parking guards were being briefed on the day’s activities. I figured out that Day 2 would make sure that the parking slots were filled with cars. Because the first season saw around 20,000 spectators who came to see these heavy vehicles battle and this time, Tata Motors were expecting double the numbers. And they must have been pleasantly surprised when 48,000 spectators turned up for the event. Though the best part was that majority of this audience had no idea about this sport. Few television commercials and a newspaper ad convinced them to take out their car with family and head to watch the race.
Day 2’s schedule was more elaborate with lot of entertainment activities planned around the event. I usually don’t quite like this during a motorsport event, but the success of a grand event depends on the type of entertainment package one gets. Now you know why the Indian Premier League was successful and Indian Super League was not? Unlike Day 1, this time drivers had to worry about the wet tarmac, thanks to some unseasonal rains in Noida. But these British drivers are trained truck drivers and they know the art of driving on wet tarmac without any practice. After the inauguration ceremony, where Tata Motors showed their entire commercial vehicle line-up, it was time for the eight-lap qualifier. The 48,000 spectators made sure their cameras and camcorders were switched on most of the time. The eight-lap super qualifier was in progress, when it had to be red-flagged in the first lap itself. One of the Primas misjudged corner 1 and went on to smash the concrete wall. Watching a truck go off its path on the first lap itself wasn’t predictable but that doubled up the excitement. The super qualifiers ended within 15 minutes, with Steve Thomas from Team Allied Partners taking the first place.
Unlike Formula 1, where the action goes on for more than an hour, the Tata Prima Racing had only few laps in hand. But in order to make things exciting and fun for the audience, there was an eight- lap super qualifier and a 16-lap final race on Day 2. After some more music and dance, it was time for the final race. The final race saw lot of bumper to bumper pushes, scraping each other while overtaking, but that didn’t let the drivers lose their temper.
While some managed to overtake others in the tight corner, some tailed the opponent quite closely. Stuart Oliver, the defending champion was once again leading the race, but Steve Thomas made his life difficult. Thomas made sure to give his 100 per cent, but unfortunately, Oliver was a level above him. After almost 30 minutes of thrilling drive, Stuart Oliver crossed the finish line first, followed by Steve Thomas and Steven Powell in second and third respectively.
I really appreciate Tata Motors’ effort to bring truck racing to India, despite motorsports being still at a nascent stage. After the Indian Grand Prix being taken away from the Indian audience, it is really nice to see a truck race being held at the Buddh International Circuit. I know there is a commercial interest lying around this event, but I don’t mind that because thousands of spectators are getting a chance to watch something that could only be dreamt of.
On the other hand, this will also change everyone’s perception about the truck and the driver and the kind of job they do. They have been the least appreciated people but through this sport, we will at least think about them when we overtake them in our car. The entire event was organised very well. I am eagerly waiting for the third season because after the success of the first two years, the third season is expected to be bigger and it has to be, because we will see Indian drivers participating in this championship.
